England opener Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements from captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews following England's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain stated he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done all the talking over the past two days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, following Crawley made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. We take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming matches.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman stated the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous three years in leadership.
"It's been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's wicket late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an insurmountable three-nil advantage with three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in only 11 days of play – after England fell the initial matches in rapid time each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," said Crawley. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was always going to be tough coming here to face them. They entered as the front-runners and they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his short-term future in the side, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his poor record against the old enemy.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added he. "He has had a good year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he finished.
